In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 8:21-30 and Jesus’ profound warning to religious unbelievers at the Feast of Booths. John reports Jesus’ fourth round of discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Booths so that you will heed Jesus’ warning and not die in your sins.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
the church or those that you mother at home let’s pray before we hear from God’s word Lord open our eyes to wondrous things in this book in your Revelation help me to be able to declare it and help us Lord to be protected from distractions and from worldly thinging that that does not let us accept the things of God help us to heed this word this morning in Jesus name amen and preparing the message this week I began thinking about the infamous 11 foot 8 Bridge have you ever heard of it it’s also known as the can opener Bridge or the Gregson Street Guillotine officially this railroad bridge in Durham North Carolina is called the Norfolk Southern Gregson Street overpass built in 1940 this bridge allows trains to cross over South greggson Street in downt Durham while cars drive underneath the problem is that this bridge was built when the standard clearance for Bridges was only 11 ft 8 in instead of 14 ft like it is in most places today this means that many large vehicles cannot pass safely under the bridge but that should not be too big of a problem right just put up some warning signs about the Bridge’s low height so that any over height Vehicles can turn away before running into the bridge and this is precisely what the city of Durham did today large signs alert drivers to the low clearance Bridge several blocks before drivers encounter it also a half block before the bridge an electronic sensor detects over height vehicles and triggers an LED blackout warning sign that reads over height must turn this same sensor also triggers a red light phase at the traffic light directly in front of the bridge so that a driver can stop and have 50 seconds to read the warning sign and consider carefully how he should respond finally just in front of the bridge itself there are two signs on either side of the street listing the Bridge’s height so you getting the picture you’ve got multiple warnings leading up to and present at the bridge itself so that tall Vehicles do not collide with it but do the warnings work well many drivers do indeed heed the warnings and keep themselves in their vehicle safe however some drivers do not heed the warnings hence the bridges reputation since 2008 when a local office worker set up a camera obser observing the bridge and its preceding intersection there had been 182 collisions into the bridge with many over height semi- trucks buses and RVs traveling at high speed toward the bridge and then losing roof fixtures or even having their entire roofs sheared off as if by a can opener actually two CIS have already happened this month now thankfully injuries for these crashes into the bridge have been few but the damaged the vehicles has been quite extensive and all because drivers foolishly do not pay attention to or actually heed the many warnings of course there’s a much more serious warning that many people ignore today a repeated warning actually not about protecting your property or even protecting your body but instead about your Eternal Soul in the Bible God repeatedly warns people he even warns you and me that you must get right with him or you will die in your sins and be thrown into a place of darkness and burning forever called hell yet so many people react to These Warnings like the foolish drivers careening towards the can opener Bridge oblivious or kidding them elves that they are the exception God’s holy anger will not touch them these people are in for a terribly rude awakening but what about you in our next passage in the Gospel of John we see Jesus give a message of sobering warning to his listeners but amazingly his listeners ignore it it’s like they don’t even hear it so Jesus repeats the warning and he explains it further so that his original hearers and we today might finally listen and therefore might finally turn from sure Eternal death to Sure eternal life let’s look at this together please open your Bibles to John 8 21 to30 the title of the message today is beware dying in your sins beware dying in your sins John 8: 21-30 if you’re using the Bibles we’ve provided it’s page 1069 before we read the passage remember the context we’re 6 months before Jesus crucifixion Jesus is still in Jerusalem at the Feast of booths also known as the Feast of Tabernacles one of Israel’s three yearly religious feasts Messianic expectations are high everyone is talking about about whether this man Jesus could be the Christ and Jesus enemies the Jewish religious leaders and their closest followers usually simply called the Jews in John’s gospel they are more determined than ever to oppose and kill Jesus now so far at this particular Feast Jesus has avoided their murderous designs but he has nevertheless engaged in multiple rounds of public debate public discussion with the Jews in round 1 John 7:10 to 36 Jesus began teaching in the temple and refuting the shallow objections people were using to justify not believing in him in round two John 7:37 to 52 Jesus declared himself to be the source of Living Water even The Giver of the promised indwelling spirit of God and then John 812 to20 which we were at last time we saw round three which Jesus declared himself to be the life-giving light of the world in these discussions Jesus has made wondrous declarations and given generous invitations to believe in him and receive God’s Abundant Life and salvation yet the Jews and the Pharisees in particular have opposed Jesus the whole time rather than taking him up on his invitation to believe in him and to be saved they not only have refused to believe but have tried to prevent others from doing so so Jesus engages in one more round of discussion with his Jewish opponents which is our passage let’s now read John 8:21 to30 then he said again to them I go away and you will seek me and will die in your sin why I’m going you cannot come so the Jews were saying surely he will not kill himself will he since he says where I’m going you cannot come and he was saying to them you are from below I am from above you are of this world I am not of this world therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins so they were saying to him who are are you Jesus said to them what have I been saying to you from the beginning I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you but he who sent me is true and the things which I heard from him these I speak to the world it did not realize that he had been speaking to them about the father so Jesus said when you lift up the son of man then you will know that I am he and I do nothing on my own initiative but I speak speak these things as the father taught me and he who sent me is with me he has not left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to him as he spoke these things many came to believe in him this is round four of Jesus public discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Boo and you may notice like rounds 2 and three round four begins with a profound declaration from Jesus however the previous rounds previous two they began with Declarations of wondrous compassion I am the source of Living Water come to me and drink I the Life Giving Light of Life follow me and live the beginning declaration here in round four is instead a frightening warning such a shift should have shaken the supposedly God-fearing Jews but as you can see they ignore Jesus warning and they focus on the less important part of his declaration and the rest of the passage therefore Jesus repeats his declaration and he gives three clarifications to his listeners so that they cannot pretend they do not understand Jesus warning and so that they might heed it we can describe the passage’s main idea in this way John 8 21-30 John reports Jesus fourth round of discussion with the Jews at the Feast of booths so that you will heed Jesus warning and not die in your sins it’s a pretty straightforward purpose John writes this passage so that you will heed Jesus warning and not die in your sins let’s look first together at Jesus declaration in verses 21 to 22 the Declaration is without Jesus you will die in your sin without Jesus you will die in your sin let’s look at verse 21 just to start then he again then he said again to them I go away and you will seek me and will die in your sin where I am going you cannot come notice in verse 21 that Jesus is again speaking to them who’s them we just look at whom he was just talking to he’s talking to the Pharisees the popular religious leaders with whom Jesus has just been speaking in the previous round on this last day of the Feast of bus though it’s not just the Pharisees now if you just glance at verse 22 it says that those who answer Jesus are the Jews indicating the others of jesus’ enemies besides the Pharisees they are re-entering the discussion so Jesus is speaking to them all again here he is addressing his opponents but what does Jesus say Jesus gives a warning that sounds like something he’s already said back in the middle of the feast if you just glance back at John 7:33 and 34 John 7:33 and 34 Jesus said for a little while longer I am with you then I go to him who sent me you will seek me and will not find me and where I am you cannot come John 821 looks like Jesus is just previously repeating what he said or repeating what he previously said but there is a notable twist a slight difference he tells the Jews here I am going away which is a phrase he doesn’t totally explain but he is again referring to his coming death his burial his resurrection and his Ascension back to his God in heaven Jesus is indicating he will not remain among the Jews very much longer therefore they will have little opportunity to hear him further and respond so that they may have life he says I’m going away and he says and you will seek me now with this as I’ve told you previously in the John 7 passage Jesus probably does not mean that they will seek him in the future again to kill him or harm him in some way not that kind of seeking rather Jesus is indicating they will seek God’s Messiah and they will seek all that comes with God’s Messiah God’s promised salvation God’s promised Kingdom God’s promised blessing he says you will seek these things you will seek the Christ you will even seek me after I go away but will they find the Messiah will they find what Messiah has and brings Jesus says next and will die in your sin you will seek me and you will die in your sin now surely because this is more or less a repetition of John 7 this is an equivalent statement to what Jesus said before and you will not find me you will seek me and you will not find me but what exactly does it mean to die in your sin this phrasing may be an illusion to some famous verses in the Old Testament Ezekiel 3: 18 to 20 I won’t take you there right now but in that passage God is telling his Prophet Ezekiel that he Ezekiel must warn God’s people to turn from their sins lest those people die in their iniquity or as the passage also says die in their sin for somebody who doesn’t turn from his sin he can die in it he can die in his iniquity now whether Jesus is alluding to that specific passage or not the Jews would have understood what what it means to die in your sin basically to die in your sin is to die condemned by your sin and unreconciled to God your sin is not covered or forgiven it clings to you like a filthy rotten garment as you go into the grave therefore upon death the anger of a holy and just God is immediately poured out on you this means that you will never see God’s life God’s kingdom God’s salvation at all forever you will only know Everlasting regret Everlasting torment with no Prospect of relief or Escape to die in your sin is no light matter it is a horrifying Prospect and Jesus last statement in verse 21 makes total sense in lying in in in light of what dying and sin means he says where I am going you cannot come now where is Jesus going not simply into the grave but back to life and then to the glory at the father’s right hand in heaven Jesus came from God and is going back to God but for those who die in sin they cannot ever come to God not even after suffering in hell for thousands of years truly to miss Jesus when you have the chance to come to him and to die in your sin is the worst tragedy because there are no reset buttons there are no doovers there are no second chances as the other scripture says is ordained that man will die once and then the Judgment those who seek Jesus is too late will never find him and they will never go where he goes now notice that Jesus doesn’t pronounce this warning to theoretical Sinners somewhere out there but to whom to the Jews to God’s Own chosen people even to the religious leaders among those people the scribes and Pharisees the priests and rabbis and their most devoted followers who are all let’s remember in the middle of celebrating a religious feast to God to them he says and using emphatic pronouns in the Greek I myself will go away and you all will seek me and in your sin you all yourselves will die where I myself go away you all yourselves are not able to come Jesus is telling the most religious people of his day or at least those who’ be considered the most religious that they are not going where he is going they are not going to God that should be shocking that should be very sobering not just to them but to us too right because could it be true among those who style themselves religious today that what Jesus says about the Jews is true about them now of course such is man’s proud sinful heart no matter the era no matter whether it’s Biblical times or modern times you can have people who think they are going to God very religious people but God’s assessment is you will die in your sin and again this is something that could be true not just out there in other religions and other denominations and other churches it could be true here could be true here even at Calvary now I love you all I’m persuaded that this is a Congregation of people who truly love God but I cannot see your hearts God does though it is possible that the warning that Jesus gives the Jews here is the very warning that you personally need because despite the words you say despite the service you offer in the church it is still true that you have not turned from your sins therefore you do not have Jesus and you are in terrible danger of dying in your sin so bring back that be introductory metaphor the lwh hanging Bridge of God’s Wrath is approaching Jesus has just put up a warning sign how will you respond let’s see how the Jews respond in verse 22 so the Jews were saying surely he will not kill himself will he since he says where I going you cannot come now to me that response is almost comical there’s a feel like to you that that response does not really follow what Jesus just said it does to me because instead of paying attention to the part where Jesus warns in multiple ways that these outwardly religious people they are going to seek him too late and they are going to die under the wrath of God what do the people focus on in Jesus statement where Jesus could possibly be going now in some ways this response from the Jews is not surprising first of all because even Jesus own disciples are confused about where Jesus is going when he tells them he’s going away they are confused until it actually happens this is secondly not surprising because the Jews have already showed confusion towards Jesus when he makes a statement like this back in round one of the feast John 7:35 and 36 the Jews then said to one another where does this man intend to go that we will not find him he’s not intending to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks is he what is this statement that he said you will seek me and will not find me and where I am you cannot come they’ve shown that they’ve been confused about this before so surprise surprised they’re confused again but there’s a third reason this is not surprising and this is the most notable and that is because the Jewish leaders up to this point in the gospel they have consistently proven themselves to be spiritually dull even to the point of hard-hearted proud mocking of Jesus words and warnings you may remember that I told you before regarding John 735 that the Jews did not seriously believe that Jesus when he told them he would go away that he meant to go among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles and the heniz Jews in the dispersion that was probably a statement of contempt a suggestion of mocking you can’t make it here but maybe he thinks those dirty Gentiles will give him a better reception maybe that’s where he means he’s going to go it’s probably mockery and we probably see the same thing here this is the proud attitude of the Jews toward Jesus on display in verse 22 it’s probably not that they really just can’t think of anywhere Jesus might go except into the Grave by his own hand no this is probably more mocking because you see the Jews at this point they had come to believe that suicide was a particularly heinous sin in the eyes of God even that God banished such persons to the lowest part of hell for what they did so with their statement to Jesus the Jews would be saying to Jesus essentially if indeed they are mocking him couldn’t possibly mean he’s going to kill himself could he I mean I can see why maybe that would be an attractive option for such a loser like him and the lowest part of Hell really is the appropriate place for this so-called teacher I mean we righteous Jews certainly wouldn’t be able to follow him there he’d be right about that maybe he does mean suicide this is ugly this is arrogant contempt from the Jews toward Jesus far from heeding his warning they only use it as an opportunity to mock him and how many do this today with the good news about Jesus I sure hope that none of you do people scoff at the warnings about hell they brush off any warnings with self-justifications I’m not as bad as that person oh I’m going to church now I should be fine or they evade the warnings by thinking God must be talking about someone else oh I know who needs to hear this message they never apply it to themselves we can’t be like that you can’t be like that don’t be like these self-righteous Jews well as we learn as the scriptures go along many of them most of them indeed died in their sins just as Jesus warned you don’t want to be like them you want to listen to God’s warning so that you yourself might be saved now because the Jews so quickly misunderstand Jesus and ignore his warning Jesus gives three clarifications about what he has just declared so we’re going to look at those the first clarification appears in verses 23 to 25A clarification 1 you will die in sins unless you believe you will die in sins unless you believe look at verse 23 and he was saying to them you are from below I am from above you are of this world I am not of this world notice the in imperfect verb tense that begins this verse Jesus was saying that is he was saying something repeatedly to the Jews so that they wouldn’t miss it and what does Jesus keep emphasizing to his dismissive opponents well a fundamental difference in Origins you yourselves the emphatic pronouns are back here we don’t see it in English so much but it’s there in the Greek you yourselves are from below Jesus says which probably because of the parallel statement that comes at the end of this verse this doesn’t mean that the Jews are from hell but merely they are from Earth you yourselves are from below whereas Jesus says I myself am from above unlike the Jewish religious leaders Jesus came from God in heaven to the Earth didn’t come from Earth like they did you yourselves are of this world Jesus says that is you were born into the dwelling place of mankind that is fundamentally in rebelling against God it’s a dark place it’s ruled over by Satan so you are dark people your thinking is worldly your desires are worldly and your destiny is the same of as all the other this world focused dwellers of the world whereas Jesus says of himself I myself am not of this world that is not only did I ultimately not come from this Fallen World but also my desires my thinking my destiny are not of this world I am about my father’s words and will and I am going back to him and not all of this is explained in Jesus words but because we know the rest of the scriptures we we get what he’s talking about but why bring out the fundamental differences between Jesus and the Jews why start with this in his first clarification well on the one hand Jesus is in a sense answering their mocking question where is he going well since he is not of this world the place to which he will soon be going is back above to heaven the place from when he came on the other hand Jesus mentions this immediately in reply to them to explain why even these supposedly religious Jews will in fact die in their sins without him it’s because they are fundamentally just like everyone else in the world here is the great lie that all other world religions besides biblical Christianity teach even some religions that claim to follow the true God or label themselves as Christian they teach this fundamental lie and that lie is that you can be good enough for God you can do enough good works you can participate in enough rituals you can be religious enough you can earn your way into God’s favor and into some kind of Heaven that God promises you this was the teaching that the Jews in Jesus day had swallowed Hook Line and Sinker and it is the same teaching that many people swallow today and think they are the on the road to God and Heaven but as Jesus points out people from below people of the world can never be good enough for God that is because they are born into a corrupted world and are of a corrupted World they are themselves corrupt their desires their thinking their Destiny are all Fallen which means their good works are too those who are of this world cannot please God nor can they transform themselves into those who can for no person can change his own nature didn’t Jesus already tell us this in john 35 and6 john 35 and6 truly truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is Spirit flesh cannot transform itself into Spirit ultimately all that sinful people of the world can do and all of us are are sinful people all that sinful people in the world can do is produce sinful Works they may look good on the outside to some people but they are tainted by sin you can dress it up in religiosity but God sees to the core it’s corrupt so how can anyone in this world be saved the only way is if someone who is not of this world someone who is uniquely qualified to come and and rescue is sent into the world for the world we need God himself to come to the rescue Jesus points out by his contrast with the Pharisees the Jews he is that fundamentally different one he is God’s ordained means of rescue yet what have they just done what have they been doing the whole time they say thank you but no thank you they reject and even mock the one sent by God because they think they don’t need him no we got this Jesus we’ll be fine on our own so Jesus puts two and two together for them says here’s the reality here’s what you’re doing here’s the outcome verse 24 therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins from unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins is there any other logical conclusion if you cannot save yourselves and you reject the only one son from Heaven who can save you there’s only one outcome you will die in your sins Jesus is making it very plain they cannot miss it we cannot miss it notice one difference here though in Jesus repeated warning in verse 21 it was you will die die in your sin singular verse 24 twice here we have you will die in your sins plural is that difference in number significant you might say no except for the clarifying reason that Jesus gives in the middle of verse 24 unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins you know from a certain point of view did you know that it is true that every kind of human sin can be forgiven except one even the worst sins you can think of committed over and over and over and over again God can forgive he is that merciful he is that great in his kindness but there is one sin that God cannot and will not ever forgive no matter what you know what that sin is it’s unbelief in his son Jesus if you believe in Jesus incredibly God will forgive everything else past present and future doesn’t matter what you’ve done if you believe in Jesus God will forgive it all but if you don’t believe in Jesus in the only provided provision of God for your sin then because you won’t believe that sin of unbelief will take the lead among all your other sins and stampeding you all the way to hell this is why in describing why people become eternally damned the Bible can answer by speaking both of General sins of rebellion and also the specific sin of unbelief belief in Jesus both are what condemns a person to Eternal punishment your sins condemn you but also the sin the sin of unbelief is what condemns you so that may account for the difference in number in our passage verse 21 Jesus is referring to the soul damning sin of unbelief at verse 24 Jesus is referring to all the other Soul damning sins that are left uncovered and Unforgiven because of unbelief in Jesus now don’t miss the fundamental truth of verse 24 and that is that only faith in Jesus saves it is not works it is not Faith plus works it is faith alone in Jesus alone only those who believe in Jesus will not die in their sins that is the only C category of exception but believe what about Jesus notice here very intriguing Jesus says unless you believe that I am he who’s he what’s he what am I supposed to believe about this he what am I supposed to believe about Jesus in order to be saved even more interestingly the original Greek text for this phrase is more literally translated unless you believe that I am the he could be implied by the grammar of the Greek but it’s not literally there so what is Jesus saying well as we’ve already seen in this gospel and we will see again Jesus sometimes makes I am statements that have an overtone of claim to deity to asserting himself to be God we saw one of these last week in John 8:12 I am the light of the world we’re going to see one again soon in John 858 truly truly I say to you before Abraham was born I am and I I would argue that we see another one here in verse 24 as well as in verse 28 now what does saying I am have to do with claiming to be God of course anyone can say that I am blank and still mean something totally normal we’re going to see this in John 9 with the man born blind they’ be like is this is this your son is this the one who was born blind now he can see and he says I am he I’m the one he was not claiming to be deity there but when someone says I am and then fills in the rest of the statement with something that can only be true about God or if someone says Something Like Jesus Does here you must believe that I am and then doesn’t fill in the rest of the statement such statements most likely are Declarations of Divinity why do I say that because that’s the way God himself talks I reminded you last time of God’s famous self-identifying statement to Moses in Exodus 3:14 Exodus 3:14 just to recall it to your mind God said to Moses I am who I am and he said thus you shall say to the sons of Israel I am has sent me to you I am is a phrase specially connected to God and His very nature I am expresses his eternality his self-sufficiency fundamentally God is I am but it wasn’t just expressed there in Exodus God sometimes uses that title again or uses that phrasing again in a poignant way in other places in the Old Testament like in the one we read earlier in our service Isaiah 43 1-13 God is stressing to Israel how much different he is compared to the false gods who can’t do anything who can’t fortell the future let me remind you of two things that God says in Isaiah 43:10 Isaiah 43:13 Isaiah 43:10 you are my Witnesses declares the Lord or the word there is Yahweh you are my Witnesses declares Yahweh and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he before me there was no God formed and there will be none after me similarly Isaiah 43:13 even from eternity God says I am he and there is none who can deliver out of my hand I act and who can reverse it are you seeing the parallel to our passage in these verses in Isaiah God doesn’t Define the he of I am I am he because it doesn’t have to here again is a declaration like in Exodus 3:14 a declaration of divine self-existence in dependence eternality I am God says when you see me do things that only God can do you’ll know I am so bringing all this back to John 8 if Jesus is validated by God and His words and works but Jesus also speaks like God and makes the same assertion about himself that God does even in statements like I am and I am he then who must Jesus be Jesus Is God Jesus Is God he’s not merely a good man he’s not merely a moral teacher or an example to follow he’s not merely an exalted Angel he is the Son of God the one sent by the father into the world of Darkness to be Israel’s promised Messiah and the saving light of all people who will believe in him he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords he is the only one who could deliver you and me from our sins because he fundamentally is not of this world though he was eternally God he became a man he did come into this world so that he could grow up and live a perfectly righteous life the very one that you and I were supposed to live as Jesus himself will mention in a moment he then went to the cross to accomplish a desperately needed exchange for people he took the sins of all those who believe in him into his own account and suffered the eternal hell penalty for those sins once and for all he also took his perfect righteousness the very righteousness of the Son of God and you know that’s righteous and he placed it into the account of those who believe in him this is this exchange he takes your sin if you believe and he gives you his righteousness as a result when God looks at those newly redeemed people those Believers God doesn’t see their sins he doesn’t even see their pitiful corrupted self-righteous attempts to get right with God he doesn’t see those things he sees the Perfection of his own son and God therefore declares all those people righteous Justified and that’s in Jesus alone only God himself could accomplish the saving sacrifice that we needed and then Rise Again from the dead when it was all accomplished this is he this is the I am this is the one that you must believe in and give up all to have one word that’s often linked with faith or belief in Jesus in the Bible is the word repentance this is because no one can truly believe in Jesus as the Lord as the Savior as the I am who then hangs on to sin and control of his own life yes I believe in you Jesus but I’m still going to live the way that I want that’s not how it works see repentance is the flip side of true belief if you truly believe in genus Jesus you will also turn from your sin there two sides of the same coin in belief in true Faith you give up everything that displeases and dishonors God so that you may follow him you give up your sin you give up your self-righteous attempts at God’s favor you give up your own will now that’s a big one right we all start out thinking I am the captain of my own life I’m going to decide what I want to do I’ve got my dreams I’ve got my goals I’m going to pursue them but God says but I’m the Lord and I made you for me genuine faith says okay God I believe I am made for you I’m giving you control giving up my sins I’m giving control over to you you’re worthy of it and I want you if you really believe your heart tells God you are my master you now have full control of my life I now live for you because you have saved me not to keep myself saved because you have saved me I commit my entire life in growing obedience to you Lord you know I’m still going to struggle I’m going to get confused I’m going to fail but I’m going to keep pursuing you and where sin crbs up in my life I’m going to put it to death I’m going to put it away because I believe in you amen that is true saving faith in Jesus and that is the only way not to die condemned in your sins so Jesus has given this clarification do the Jews get it look at verse 25 just the first part so they were saying to him who are you once again we have to stand back amazed at the spiritual dullness and hard-heartedness of these supposedly religious leaders even after three years of public Ministry even after 7even days of teaching at this Feast even after the explanation that Jesus has already just given the Jews still ask him and apparently more than once according to the verb tense who are you how can they still not get it why do they ask this question why do they keep asking this question perhaps they did catch Jesus’s illusion with the statement I am he perhaps they think that Jesus is blaspheming by claiming divine Messianic titles for himself and they want him to clarify further so that they can entra him and have some grounds to accuse him tell us exactly who you are in ways that we can then accuse you maybe that’s why they ask him or maybe they just cannot conceive that they even they would need God himself to be their savior so even though Jesus has already been abundantly clear with them they just can’t compute it it so they say who are you again well Jesus will answer their question with a second clarification in verse 25b to 27 clarification 2 you should know who Jesus is by now clarification to you should know who Jesus is by now look at the rest of verse 25 Jesus said to them what have I been saying to you from the beginning Jesus points out to the Jews what I just pointed out to you they ought to know who he is by now if they are trying to entrap him into some sort of what they think of Blasphemous Divine declaration he’s not going to play that game not yet he just points back to what he’s already told them what he’s already showed them indeed if you’ve gotten to John 8 if you’re reading through the Gospel of John you’ve gotten to John 8 and you still don’t know who Jesus is well you really should go back and read the first eight chapters again because it’s obvious or better yet ask yourself what worldly desires and expectations are you holding on to that prevent you from seeing the plain truth that Jesus is God he’s the son of God in human flesh it’s clear what’s holding you back from seeing that Look what Jesus says next in verse 26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you but he who sent me is true and the things which I heard from him these I speak to the world in this verse Jesus acknowledges the Jews culpability and not being able to understand who he is they cannot understand even after all this time because they will not understand therefore Jesus mentions that he has many words of spiritual exposure and condemnation stored up for these religious Hypocrites but he will not speak them now you may notice the contrasting word but in the middle of the verse because the sending one the one sending Jesus is true fundamentally totally reliable Jesus will only speak the words given him from that sending one and Jesus will speak these words not only to his Jewish opponents but also to the whole world remember Jesus first coming was primarily for salvation not for judgment so though Jesus could rightfully and truthfully sentence each one of his heing to immediate judgment these Jews wow you still don’t get it you deserve to be judged he could do that right now but he again demonstrates his identity as the Son of God who is intimately United with and completely humbly dependent on the father Jesus shows he will continue to seek the father’s will and the father’s timing he’s not going to start judging because now is not the time that’s not what the father has ordained for him as the perfect son as the the perfect explainer of God he will only speak the father’s words and the father’s time yet even this clarification from Jesus soon demonstrates further the spiritual density of the Jews for notice verse 27 they did not realize that he had been speaking to them about the father you almost want to hit your head on the desk how could they miss even that even if they didn’t believe Jesus really has God as his father they should have been able to understand that he was making that claim who could the sending one be if Jesus came from above and came from Heaven if not the father and how many times has Jesus clarified to the Jews his relationship with the father in Heaven John 2 John 5 John 6 earlier in John 8 actually it’s partly due to the claim that Jesus has previously made about his relationship with the father that the Jews want to kill him he called God his own father making himself equal with God that’s John 5 and now they don’t they don’t understand he’s talking about his father when he’s talking about the sending one so Jesus has one more clarification to make the Jews and to us as well and we see this in the final part of our passage verses 28 to 30 clarification three you will know Jesus better after the cross you will know be Jesus better after the cross look at verse 28 so Jesus said when you lift up the son of man then you will know that I am he and I do nothing on my own initiative but I speak these things as the father taught me have you ever watched a movie and then later watch that same movie again it’s a totally different experience the second time right yes you no longer experience the surprise eyes the tension the humor like you did the first time because you’ve seen it all before you’re more familiar with the story but once you know how everything ends you can suddenly appreciate and understand the details leading up to that end which didn’t make sense to you the first time oh that’s why that character says that here oh that’s why the camera lingers on this scene for a while it’s foreshadowing it’s foreshadowing the end Jesus says that knowing who he is and knowing his relationship with the father is a little bit like that experience as Jesus has just clarified in verse 26 there is already ample evidence as to who Jesus is and why everyone must believe in him to avoid dying in sin it’s not as if he’s giving them a pass nevertheless he says in verse 28 when you lift up the son of man doesn’t exactly explain what that means but we know what that means when you Jews cause my body to be lifted up on the cross when you kill me then you will know that I am literally I am could also be translated I am he then you will know and in additionally specifically you will know that the whole time I was doing nothing on on my own initiative or according to my own solitary will but was always perfectly speaking and obeying the father you’re not sure who the sending one was it’s the father you’ll realize the whole time I was obeying the father just as he instructed me indeed it is the lifting up of the Cross or I should say the lifting up of the Cross itself it gains new significance once you see the final outcome for Jesus which is not death it’s resurrection and it’s glorification of the son by the father remember we saw this back in John 3 lifting up also means to glorify to exalt John is playing or rather Jesus is playing with that double meaning what at first glance looks like a mere tragic lifting up to death it becomes on second view once you know the whole story it’s a lifting up in glory before the whole world and even functions as the drawing of many peoples Jew and Gentile to believe in Jesus Jesus is saying the cross is going to make everything clearer but don’t misunderstand Jesus he’s not saying that when they know that I am after the cross he’s not saying that that means that they will all believe to the point of salvation the other gospels in the book of Acts they reveal quite the contrary many of the religious Jews remain stubborn enemies of Christ and of his people even after the cross even after the resurrection when the evidence is so obvious what Jesus is saying is that even if they resist the truth they will know it even better after the cross there will be such new plain evidence that what Jesus had been declaring all along true even that it was the father it was God himself it was the father who sent him and gave the son the words to speak now that’s not just an academic idle point that is a directly relevant point to us because what are we we quite surely are people postc cross post empty tomb if Jesus held them to account for what they already knew up to John 8 how much more we when we know so much more of the story we should be able to understand Jesus better much better so how much greater our punishment will be from God if even with all this extra information even with all even more warning signs that are so clear we still proudly do not turn how much greater will our punishment be Jesus concludes in verse 29 by saying and he who sent me is with me he has not left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to him as the Son of God Jesus doesn’t need to wait to the Cross to the resurrection to the Ascension to understand what’s really going on what his relationship with the father is really like he knows it all perfectly from the start and constantly enjoys it even when facing opposition mockery death threats Jesus is fully confident both in what he says and what he does because he knows his God his father is always with him and even that Jesus is always pleasing his father whatever he does and says he makes sure that it’s pleasing to the father after all the Son of God knows best where the greatest pleasure in the universe is and that is in God and pleasing God therefore we who have believed in Jesus we can experience a version of the confidence and joy that he’s testifying of here in verse 29 by the spirit of God inside us we have the father with us we have the son with us we have the Holy Spirit with us and when we rely on the spirit and we heed God’s word we can please the Lord as well following after him testifying of him bang him now this is where Jesus’s fourth round of discussion with the Jews ends what is the result look at verse 30 as he spoke these things many came to believe in him how interesting even though many of the Jewish leaders won’t believe there are others maybe among them certainly in the crowd who are apparently willing to heed the son of God’s warning and pass from Death to life though as we’ll see next time in the Gospel of John not all who believe in Jesus even here will turn out to be true disciples but the possibility of belief is there so it’s time to assess ourselves where are you with Jesus like the 11 fo8 Bridge God has again given you multiple warnings by his word by his spirit so that as you approach the immovable overpass of God’s Wrath you will not crash God’s word so to speak has scanned you so now there’s an LED sign lighting up that says dying in sin must turn to Jesus relatively speaking in light of Eternity you have a short time left how will you respond to this word from the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit don’t be like the fools too caught up in the world to trusting and self-generated works to turn take seriously Jesus word unless you believe that I am you will die in your sins yet if you will turn if you will believe then you will know you will gain eternal life you will gain God himself by the spirit and you will finally see the great glory of the son that was there all all along because you know the end of the story so it all comes down to this turn to Jesus today and if you’ve strayed return beware dying in your sins turn so that you may know the glory of the Lord let’s close in prayer God we thank you for your word today we are not above needing your word of warning we know how deceptive our own Hearts can be we know the allore of the World the Flesh and the evil one Lord I pray that we would take seriously this word that we would fear with holy fear dying in sin never turning from our sin just keep going our own way to destruction and compassion God you have warned us and you’ve pointed us to a better way the only way Jesus Christ Lord I pray that this congregation all of us who’ve heard this message today would believe that Jesus is the I am and that we would find our life in Jesus more and more for those who haven’t tasted at all I pray that they’d come and believe for the first time but for those who have believed God I pray that we would grow in the satisfaction of of it not distracted by the world especially the fear of man wanting people to approve us wanting people to not have a harsh word to say against us or help us not to be like the Jewish leaders who love the approval of men more than the approval of God help us Lord again to take seriously this warning and to respond to those invitations you’ve already given you are the source of Living Water you are the light of life in Jesus name amen